Drowning in Code? Meet Cline Your Free AI Partner Changing the Development Game.

Modern development is seeing a surge of AI integration, with powerful tools like the AI-first editor Cursor, Windsurf changing how we write code. While these tools offer incredible features, accessing their full potential or avoiding usage limits often requires a paid subscription. But what if you could explore the next wave of AI assistance agentic capabilities that go beyond simple completion and without the price tag?

This is where Cline enters the picture.

Now, let's be honest. We've all been there: staring at a screen, bogged down by repetitive boilerplate code, wrestling with a cryptic bug, or facing a mountain of legacy code that feels impossible to untangle. Coding is creative, challenging, and rewarding, but it also has its fair share of drudgery and roadblocks. What if you had an intelligent partner working alongside you, not just suggesting the next line, but actively taking on tasks, understanding context, and helping you navigate complexity?

That's the promise behind agentic AI, and Cline is a new player bringing this power to the developer toolkit, generating buzz for two compelling reasons: it's built on this agentic concept, and it's completely free.

So, What Exactly is “Agentic Coding”?

You’ve probably used AI coding assistants like GitHub Copilot or Tabnine, which offer fantastic autocompletion and suggestions. Agentic coding takes this a leap further. Think of it less like a predictive text tool and more like delegating tasks to a capable (albeit virtual) junior developer or assistant.

An “agentic” tool employs AI agents that can:

1. Understand broader goals: You don’t just ask for the next line; you might describe a function’s purpose, ask to refactor a whole block, or request tests for a specific module.
2. Plan and execute multi-step tasks: The AI can break down a request into smaller steps and attempt to complete them sequentially.
3. Interact with the codebase contextually: It looks beyond the immediate cursor position to understand surrounding files, dependencies, and the overall project structure (within its capabilities).
4. Potentially self-correct or ask for clarification: More advanced agents might identify issues in their own generated code or realize they need more information.

Cline: Bringing Agentic Power to Your Workflow, For Free

Cline aims to democratize this next wave of AI-powered development. By being free, it removes the cost barrier often associated with cutting-edge AI tools, making it accessible to individual developers, students, startups, and hobbyists alike.

Imagine using Cline to:

• Scaffold entire features: Describe the requirements, and Cline attempts to generate the basic structure, classes, and functions.
• Debug complex issues: Feed it an error message and relevant code snippets and ask it to propose solutions or identify the root cause.
• Refactor code for better readability or performance: Instruct it to modernize syntax, simplify logic, or apply specific design patterns.
• Generate comprehensive documentation: Ask it to create docstrings or even basic markdown documentation for your functions and classes.
• Translate code snippets: Need to convert a function from Python to JavaScript? Cline might be able to handle it.

Getting Stated with Cline using examples

You can find information and download Cline from their official website: https://cline.bot/

But let me walk you through Cline with the steps below:

1.How to install Cline extension on VS code.

First open your vs code and navigate to extensions and search for Cline and install it.

After installing that you can see Cline appear in left bar. Click on cline then you can see its interface.

2.How to configure Cline with local model.

First click on settings on the top bar.

In the settings we can select API provider, I have used Ollama as API Provider and gemma3:27b-it-q8_0 as model ID for initial testing.

After selecting the API provider and model id click on done.

Now let’s try a prompt with local model.

Prompt: Create a modern Al course website for The Fine Qubit with a built-in Al-powered code editor. The website should have a clean and user-friendly Ul and allow users to enroll in courses, watch video tutorials, and practice coding interactively. Please use React to build this web application. Give me step-by-step instructions on how to set up and run the application. Please use industry-standard software engineering principles to create this.

Because this is an agentic tool and normal chat model. This has two modes as, Plan and Act

Plan mode means the AI first creates and shows a clear step-by-step plan before doing anything, so you can review or adjust the approach.

Act mode means the AI skips showing the plan and directly performs the task, making it faster but less transparent.

Let’s try this prompt in plan mode

Result:

Okay, the user wants me to create a modern Al course website with a built-in Al-powered code editor, using React. This is a substantial project. Since we’re in PLAN MODE, I need to gather information and create a detailed plan before switching to ACT MODE.

Here’s what I need to clarify:

1. Al-powered code editor specifics: What features should the Al

code editor have? (e.g., autocompletion, error detection, code suggestions, debugging). What Al model should be used for this? (e.g., OpenAl Codex, a locally hosted model).

2. Course content: Will the user provide the course content (videos, text, exercises)? Or should I generate some placeholder content?

3. Authentication and Enrollment: How should users enroll in

courses? Should there be user accounts, payment integration, or a simple enrollment form?

4. UI/UX Design: Does the user have any specific preferences for the website’s look and feel? Or should I use a standard modern design?

5. Deployment: Where should the website be deployed? (e.g., Netlify, Vercel, AWS).

6. Tech Stack: Beyond React, what other libraries or frameworks should be used? (e.g., Next.js for server-side rendering, Tailwind CSS for styling, a state management library like Redux or Zustand).

I’ll start by asking about the Al code editor specifics and the course content. These are the most critical aspects to define upfront.

Hello! This sounds like a fantastic project. To ensure I build the Al course website to your exact specifications, I need a bit more information.

First, regarding the Al-powered code editor: what specific features are you envisioning? For example, should it offer autocompletion, error detection, code suggestions, or debugging capabilities? Also, do you have a preferred Al model for powering the editor (e.g., OpenAl Codex, a locally hosted model)?

Second, will you be providing the course content (videos, text, exercises), or should I generate some placeholder content to get started?

Provide details about the Al code editor

I will provide the course content

Generate placeholder content

Let’s discuss the UI/UX design

3.How to integrate Cline with Gemini for more performance.

First head to Google AI studio and click on Get API Key- https://aistudio.google.com/apikey

Then go to settings in Cline and select Gemini as API Provider.

You have to also select the model; I have used the latest gemini-2.5-pro-exp-03–25 for the testing example.

Now you can try this with the previous prompt and see the output.

To switch to act mode just click on act mode, then it will generate the code (you don’t have to give prompt again it will create according to content in plan mode)

4.How to use MCP servers with Cline.

First navigate to MCP servers in the menu

Inside you can search for the MCP server you want and install that I am going to use Brave search.

Prompt: Do a brave search for the latest “Al research breakthroughs and summarize the main findings from the extracted results.

Let’s try a prompt with MCP server

If you put Auto approve to none you have to approve result one by one.

It will generate results with references.

5.How to build a simple application using the result of MCP tool

Prompt: Do a brave search and find the Tesla stock details and build a web page to analyze stock graphs etc.

After all codes have been generated you can run it using Run Command button.

Final Output:

The Human Element: Collaboration, Not Replacement

While the idea of AI agents handling coding tasks might sound futuristic (or slightly unnerving), the goal of tools like Cline isn’t necessarily to replace developers. It’s about augmentation.

• Reducing Toil: Freeing up developers from repetitive, time-consuming tasks allows them to focus on higher-level problem-solving, architecture design, and creative thinking.
• Accelerating Development: Get boilerplate code, tests, or initial drafts generated in seconds, not hours.
• Lowering Barriers: Complex codebases become easier to understand and contribute to when you have an AI agent that can explain sections or help you navigate.
• Learning Aid: Developers can learn new patterns, syntax, or libraries by seeing how Cline tackles a problem.

Cline is a promising new tool that brings AI closer to developers. It offers free agent-like capabilities to automate coding tasks, streamline workflows, and speed up software development. Still in its early stages, Cline hints at a future where AI actively collaborates in the development process.